In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom Angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
Angels and Archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
Give my heart.
(C. Rosetti. Source)
Performances: Holst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFca8sTbbkg
Darke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPpy3XSk6c0
There are two well-known tunes for this carol, one by Gustav Holst, one by Harold Darke, both published in the early 20th century. There are other tunes floating around but if you only know one, it’s probably one of the ones above. The Holst is probably more usual for congregational singing, but choral singers, in my experience, prefer the more complex Darke.
The words are by Victorian poet Christina Rosetti, an interesting character in her own right as well as through her family connections- although from my limited experience of her works, ‘bleak’ is a good description of her view of humanity. The verse which begins “Enough for Him, whom cherubim” is left out of a number of books- possibly because people are uncomfortable singing about breasts in church.
The first verse depicts Earth as an inhospitable place, ‘bleak’ with the cold and ‘hard’ mid winter perhaps referring as much to the spiritual state of Earth as to the weather. Into that bleakness comes God- an entity that cannot be confined even by heaven chooses to come down to earth as a tiny baby, to live as one of us, and is dependent on a stable for shelter. God, who needs nothing and is greater than all of us, makes himself dependent on a young woman to feed and care for him. God, who is rightfully worshipped even by angels, is only known to farm animals and poor folk.
Beyond the usual depiction of the nativity scene, the theme of the carol has some similarities with yesterday, leading us to ask what we would bring to this baby as our gift:
“What can I give Him,
Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
Give my heart.”
I’m not someone with an obvious gift or talent- I enjoy singing but I’m not a great musician, I’m not a successful leader or visionary or teacher, and I don’t have loads of money to give. Sometimes I can feel like I’m not really ‘giving’ anything to God, that the service I can offer isn’t really worth much compared to others, or that I’m failing to do what I’m supposed to. This carol is a reminder that it isn’t what we can do that matters- it’s that we bring ourselves, our talents, whatever they are and however good or not we may feel we are at using them, and offer them to God. No one is too poor, too hurt, too unskilled, too inexperienced for God. Our hearts- our love, dedication, worship- are a greater gift than anything we can make or do. I hope you find that encouraging.
